Comments for So You Want To Be a Photojournalist at http://www.micahwalter.com , comment 1 to 10 out of 10 comments http://www.micahwalter.com Thu, 09 Sep 2010 12:43:38 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.micahwalter.com/blog/so-you-want-to-be-a-photojournalist.html#comment-99 I was a exiled journalist from sri lanka and located in Switzerland.I had over 15 years experience in journalism(print and electronic media)when I was came to swiss I realised it is very difficult to find a job in journalism sector. because of language.Then I tried to learn photography and it was workout.after 6 month I got a chance to working as freelance photographer in regional news paper.As micah said it is hard to enter the journalism sector, I was got little success because of my past experience. learning and hard work is the only one..only one equipment, find a place in the world.Thanks micah for your nice informations. - Sasi Subramaniam Fri, 26 Mar 2010 02:17:05 +0100 http://www.micahwalter.com/blog/so-you-want-to-be-a-photojournalist.html#comment-35 I typed in '[i]photojournalist, twitter, ngo[/i]' into google and stumbled onto this and being a graduate photoj from the UK I am '[b][u]that guy'[/u][/b]you speak of. All my questions were answered and I will refer to this, recite it daily like some mad word whore. I may even take pictures of the screen..but seriously it's very hard. Its harder with no money and trying to do small freelance work with limited cash for equipment/travel, while the Graduate Bank Hitman looks for you. Thank you for lightstalkers, ive been putting off going there [i]because[/i] of the masses of PJ's battling for Ego-space. My confidence is shot going into this but must maintain social oneness. Thanks Micah. Stephen [url]http://stephensidlo.blogspot.com[/url] - Stephen Sidlo Sun, 30 Aug 2009 16:33:13 +0100 http://www.micahwalter.com/blog/so-you-want-to-be-a-photojournalist.html#comment-34 Excelent article! The first (but not the last) that I read here. It's very inspiring. I'm a portuguese camera operator and editor (freelancer) that is trying to explore the photography fields to... My goal is to work at my own multimedia stuff. My main reference is Mediastorm.org. Somehow, i steped forward with your article. Obrigado. (thank you) http://www.flickr.com/photos/vitormartinho http://www.pensaventosnodesrto.wordpress.com - Vitor Martinho Tue, 25 Aug 2009 18:20:45 +0100 http://www.micahwalter.com/blog/so-you-want-to-be-a-photojournalist.html#comment-28 I've been doing a lot of research lately on this topic. Your post put a lot of things into perspective. One of the most important aspects you touched upon was WRITING. I'm so glad you stressed the importance of writing. - Tracy Sun, 12 Jul 2009 23:18:29 +0100 http://www.micahwalter.com/blog/so-you-want-to-be-a-photojournalist.html#comment-26 Thanks for sharing your thoughts and advice in this article. It's amazing how many people, myself included, threw themselves head first into buying a camera and not really knowing what they wanted to get from it. Sometimes it pays to sit back, relax and think about what you're aiming for and the best way to achieve it. A lot of people think that anything that doesn't involve taking a photograph can't surely help their photography career. Thanks again. - KJ Sat, 11 Jul 2009 05:34:21 +0100 http://www.micahwalter.com/blog/so-you-want-to-be-a-photojournalist.html#comment-24 Micah, Thanks for writing this. I've spent the last couple days reading stuff about being a photojournalist and all it ever ends up with is a pitch to check out some tech school a thousand miles from where I live. Your point on handling rejection is something I think is important to budding photojournalists as well as your observation of other photogs being "all up in your business". Keep up the great work! - Andrew Becker Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:13:26 +0100 http://www.micahwalter.com/blog/so-you-want-to-be-a-photojournalist.html#comment-23 wow....thank alot....you give me inspiration for walk afar..:D:D - prasetya yudha Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:23:38 +0100 http://www.micahwalter.com/blog/so-you-want-to-be-a-photojournalist.html#comment-22 The bit that "it's all about the contents" couldn't be more true: I have been shooting concerts and occasional events as a freelancer for a local news agency for a few months; I was puzzled at first that my shots were getting rejected ("but it's sharpppppp"), then I learned that an image of someone's head with an open mouth and a microphone is not exactly relevant to a specific show, hence it's mostly worthless from a journalist's standpoint :) You have to be prepared to learn new stuff all the time, btw, and one of the best knowledge sources is the editor: if you get to establish a good working relation with a publication/news agency, and are just starting and not sure about anything, talk to the editor; but be warned that it's likely you won't understand and/or like what he/she tells you the first time(s) ;) - m0n5t3r Sun, 21 Jun 2009 02:47:20 +0100 http://www.micahwalter.com/blog/so-you-want-to-be-a-photojournalist.html#comment-21 Yes, I agree with you mostly. but I think this has to go beyond an equipment talk. I would argue that for about $400 you could buy an old Nikon F3 and a really sharp 24mm 2.8 and make some amazing work with 5 rolls of Tri-X. As Lance Armstrong said... "It's not the bike..." I was hesitant to put ANYTHING in this post about equipment, because I knew people would jump to "what camera should I get" arguments... but I guess you have to start somewhere. For me, right now, it's about being minimal... working with what I have, or have access to. A great exercise is to go out to shoot something that under normal circumstances you would take certain equipment, but instead bring the opposite, or just one camera and one fixed lens, or a telephoto only and no flash... etc.. try and forget about your equipment and focus on the image... don't worry so much about the motion blur, or the white-balance, but more about finding the composition... I could go on forever... The point is, spend less time reading about which lens to buy, and work with what you have... - Micah Walter Thu, 18 Jun 2009 16:08:41 +0100 http://www.micahwalter.com/blog/so-you-want-to-be-a-photojournalist.html#comment-20 There's so much stuff to learn. I think the hardest part is finding the right lens for the right work. I like to do events, and scenery, and sports and well, nearly everything. :) Maybe I should reword that to be trying to learn the limits of my gear, how it works better and what to and what not to shoot. Some things just won't work out, but others you can make it work. My "normal" lens is a 17-85 f/4-5.6 which is slow! Doing school rallies just wasn't working. I'd really love a new lens, but I put the 70-200 2.8 IS on there and it worked well. I still had my LX3, and I can always switch lenses for certain things. But, personally, I wouldn't spend so much money on that laptop. Well, it would be a big chunk of the cost. But realize how much you can do with a $999 or $1199 MacBook. Want to make it last longer? Upgrade it, but not from Apple. 4GB of RAM is pretty cheap online, and some places will even buy back your RAM. That saves some cash. Research before you buy! Especially software. iMovie can do a LOT if you learn how to fully use it. Final Cut Express, is so much cheaper than Pro and could probably do more than you'd need. The same applies with Aperture and Lightroom vs full versions of photoshop. Eventually you'll probably need photoshop, but if you have a 5 star shot w/o it, I think that's even better. Personally, I think I'd spend my money on well researched glass. Not necessarily all 'L' or 'ED' glass, but something fast that you can make use of. Fast wide primes are a good deal. And non-name-brand glass is good too, most of the time. Read and see what people think. Glass improves what a camera can do, and it will last for many bodies that you have. - Michael Ball Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:58:42 +0100